


Motorcycle Drive By

by JuneBlack



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Memory Loss, changki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:19:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15989426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuneBlack/pseuds/JuneBlack
Summary: Yoo Kihyun lives a normal, quiet life in a small town.He loves how simple and familiar everything about his life is. Until one day, the appearance of a mysterious man drowning in the sea turns his life upside down, digging up things he'd already burried long ago.





	1. John Doe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kkukkungichokkomi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kkukkungichokkomi/gifts).



> Hello! So, this is a story I've been working on for a while now and it's very special to me because it's the first Changki story I started writing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do when writing it!  
> It was suppossed to be a one-shot but the idea stretched out, so it will be a chaptered fic.  
> A few comments before you start reading, just to make some things clear:  
> \- The characters are just an interpretation of the MX members to fit the story, they are NOT my personal opinion on them and they shouldn't be taken seriously outside of the story. I love MX with all my heart so please don't think that they do not appear much or are 'mean' because I don't like them.  
> \- I'm not a doctor or anything, I did research on the things the story bases itself on but it might not be correct; for the sake of the story some things might not make sense, I tried to cover almost everything but I'm not flawless, please bear with me haha  
> \- Also, I haven't uploaded a story anywhere in a long time so any comments are welcome!  
> I'll shut up now~  
> Enjoy!

Kihyun liked to think of himself as a simple man. He wasn’t someone specially ambitious. He had always wanted to stay in his hometown, basking in the familiarity of everything, spending time with the same people he had been with since day one, working and helping a community he had grown to love. He liked following his routine, doing the same everyday, because it made him feel _safe_.

His mornings consisted in waking up early, taking a shower, making breakfast, waking up his little brother, Jooheon, and going to work. He worked at a hotel as a receptionist, the only place where he saw strange faces, and was mainly in charge of attending foreigners since his English was really good. After his shift was done, he would go to Jooheon’s taekwondo class -he obviously didn’t participate in the class, he just liked to watch- and then walk home with the other.

The walk home was usually the highest point of his day. He and his brother would take the longer path and stroll around the beach, their steps clumsy and slow after a long day, and would probably just sit on the sand and watch the night waves crushing against the ground, threatening and mesmerizing them.

Of course he hadn’t always been this structured; he had made his bad choices and the beautiful people of this town had helped him back on his feet. Their help was what had shaped him into what he was today. Life seemed so simple when he did the exact same thing everyday, as long as he didn’t break his routine nor the rules everything would be okay. And he liked it that way, he finally felt at peace.

“Jooheon-ah, you have to stop getting so hyped up out there, that’s why you keep getting hurt” he scolded his brother on their way down to the shore. They were walking side by side, the youngest’s steps sloppy from tiredness and his brother carrying both of their bags. Jooheon hadn’t even taken off his taekwondo outfit because of being too lazy to do so and was holding his right shoulder after having fallen down on it while fighting -reason for Kihyun’s scolding.

“Come on, hyung, it’s nothing” he shrugged it off like a stubborn boy, making the other huff.

“Yeah, it’s nothing... And then I have hospital bills to pay because of you being so careless with your health!” the receptionist yelled, not minding the volume of his voice since the crashing waves swallowed most of it.

“Aish, fine” the youngest grumbled, rubbing his sore spot.

For a few minutes, the two brothers stayed silent, walking through the beach and watching the night sky. Everything seemed completely ordinary, like any other night in the man’s life, making his bad mood fade a little. However, his inner peace was shaken up a bit when his brother spoke up again.

“Hyung, look! Over there” he said, pointing at a silhouette in the distance. “Who is that?”

Thanking to have put on his contact lenses, Kihyun obeyed his brother’s indication and found a man walking towards the crashing waves. At first glance, he seemed to be enjoying the scenery like both of them, but he felt something was off about it.

First of all, he didn’t look like any of the locals there and it wasn’t tourist season, so the presence itself was unnerving, and second, he looked almost too calm.

“He’s getting in the water!” Jooheon yelled in amusement when the man got his feet inside the icy water. “He must be Russian or something, hyung. You know, from those countries where it’s winter all year. He must be going for a swim”

Kihyun didn’t say anything, holding his breath the moment the stranger got his entire body under a huge crashing wave. He was intending to release it as soon as the man got to the surface again, but time was ticking and he was nowhere to be seen.

This settled an unusual panic in the receptionist’s guts, something he hadn’t felt in years, and suddenly he found himself running towards the place where the stranger had disappeared, dropping his things and screaming to his brother.

“He’s not swimming!”

His feet started burning from the sudden and unwanted effort he pulled off and his breath was ragged by the moment he reached the place where he had last seen the man. Without a second thought, he entered the threatening waters and started looking around and getting deeper into the sea, reaching down every time he could.

“Hyung!” his brother was still yelling in the distance, getting closer at a slower pace because of his lack of energy, but Kihyun couldn’t hear it, too focused on his task of saving someone’s life.

Suddenly, he felt something hit his leg when another big wave crushed over him and he held his breath to reach down again. It was a body, he was sure.

Without a second thought, he grabbed what felt like an arm along with a piece of fabric and pulled up, getting hit by another wave in the process and coughing out the water he had swallowed. When he managed to get the body up, he shouted his brother’s name another time, urging him to help him. He didn’t even check if the man was still alive, he just wanted to get him to the shore.

After his cry for help, he felt his brother next to him immediately, grabbing onto the stranger’s other arm and pulling him along. He didn’t know how much it took them to escape the ocean’s claws, but once they were out, they were coughing and gasping for air, laying the drowned man on the ground.

Before he even let go of the other, he checked on the man’s pulse, thanking the heavens for his first aid diploma, and started performing CPR as soon as he felt his missing heartbeats.

It took a few tries, but after giving him mouth-to-mouth -ignoring completely his brother’s ‘ew’- and pressing on his chest rhythmically, the stranger became conscious and started coughing and throwing up water.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “What’s your name?”

The other seemed completely disorientated, as if he couldn’t even understand him, and that’s when he noticed he was also bleeding through his head.

“Wh-what happened?” the stranger stuttered, though it wasn’t in Korean and Kihyun was lucky to be the one with good English.

“You drowned, sir” he answered, since the other seemed older than him. “I need you to stay still until professional help arrives” he continued, turning to look at his brother, who seemed petrified on his spot. “Jooheon-ah, get Dr. Chae here! Call the hospital!” he ordered, being obeyed immediately. “Could you tell me your name?” he went back to speaking to the man.

“I am...” he mumbled. Kihyun waited patiently for him to finish his sentence, though it never came.

“You are...?” he insisted, seeing the other looked lost.

“I am” he repeated, more determined, though still a little gone. So, the receptionist decided to just drop it.

“Okay, don’t close your eyes, sir. Just listen to my voice, I’m right here” he said, focusing on the head’s wound and stripping his shirt to press on it with the cloth.

It took almost ten minutes for the paramedics to arrive. Luckily, he had managed to keep the man awake, hoping this would all be forgotten by tomorrow and he would go back to his happy routine.

 

Several hours later, Kihyun sat at the local hospital’s waiting room. He had sent Jooheon home since the younger looked like he was about to faint from his lack of sleep and decided to take care of the police questions by himself.

After arriving at the building, he had taken his last glance at the stranger, who was on a gurney, surrounded by doctors and medical devices while taking him to one of the emergency rooms. He didn’t even have time to think about the state of his appearance before a nurse practically cornered him to ask about the patient’s personal information and his relationship to him and ‘who was going to take care of the bill’. In the end, no matter how many times he tried to explain the situation, he was left alone only after promising __he__  would take care of the bill. If he hadn’t had so much going through his mind at that moment, he would’ve probably filed in a complaint.

When he finally decided to go to the bathroom, he realized he was completely drenched and his shirt had a huge blood stain on the side due to his attempt to stop the bleeding on the other’s wound. The saltiness of the water was starting to make his skin itch and he felt an incredible urge to go back to his apartment and take a shower but his more logical side decided on the contrary. He didn’t want to seem suspicious or something for the police and he knew his friend, detective Shin Hoseok, was already on the way with his coworkers ready to interrogate about this incident.

So, there he was, drenched in salty water and a stranger’s blood, wishing he was home sleeping and clean, ready for another one of his monotonous days.

“Kihyunnie” he heard the moment a man stood in front of him.

“Hoseok-hyung” he answered immediately, standing up to bow at him and his partner, Mingyu.

“Are you the witness?” the elder laughed amused. “You were the last person I expected to find here!”

“What do you mean?” the receptionist chuckled surprised, not fully understanding.

“Well, you know, you’re not the kind of person to be involved in this kind of situations” the detective patted his shoulder, nearly making him bend his knees. “At least not anymore”

“Ah...” he mumbled, not sure if happy by the comment.

“So, do you mind if we ask you some questions?” his friend’s voice made him look up again.

“Ask ahead” he smiled weakly, feeling sleep creeping into him.

 

Kihyun was startled when someone shook him out of dreamland. Before even trying to find out what had woken him up, he groaned in pain, rubbing his neck. It took a second to remember the reason for him not to be on his comfy bed and warmth of his pajamas and when he did, he felt even less eager to find out who was in front of him.

“Come on, I know you’re awake. You made that face you always do”

Chae Hyungwon, the local doctor, had been friends with Kihyun since the day they had started wearing diapers.

“How long was I out?” Kihyun asked in a raspy voice. He couldn’t even recall when he had fallen asleep on that uncomfortable chair.

“I don’t know, I was too busy saving a man’s life” the other mocked, a smirk on his face.

“That freaking God complex you doctors have” he chuckled, rubbing his eyes. “Did you come here just to bug me or do you have news?”

He had considered running away after answering Hoseok’s questions, but just as he was going out the door, the annoying nurse had stopped him, forbidding him to go away until the patient was out and the bill payed. He knew that wasn’t a valid reason to retain him there, but there was something in his gut that made him obey.

“Both” Hyungwon chirped. “The man you saved has been stabilized and he’s currently resting after all the tests we’ve done”

“And?” he raised an eyebrow. “Is the bill ready for me to pay and just leave?”

“I don’t think it’s that easy” Kihyun pressed his lips into a thin line at that. He was really regretting his decision of saving that man. However, he stayed silent and waited for the other to proceed. “First of all, he hit his head pretty badly and drowning left his brain without air for a few seconds” he explained, knowing the receptionist would punch him if he talked with medical terms. “Those could be possible causes for what we’ve found out”

“What __have__  you found out, my sweet Hyungwon?” the shorter one was starting to lose his patience.

“He has focal retrograde amnesia” the doctor stated, looking a bit concerned all of a sudden.

Kihyun raised both of his eyebrows now, not knowing what the hell that meant.

“You know how in the movies people lose their long term memory and don’t even remember their names?” Hyungwon spoke again.

“Yeah...”

“That’s called focal retrograde amnesia” he explained. “It’s a very new and weird kind of memory loss and we don’t really know much about it. Usually people with retrograde amnesia also have anterograde amnesia, which is the incapability of making new memories. Are you following?” the other nodded. “Well, __focal__  retrograde amnesia just makes people forget all their memories but they don’t show any kind of difficulty in retaining new ones”

“So, what are you gonna do?” Kihyun asked, relieved it didn’t sound like something very expensive. There wasn’t much they could do anyway.

“Hoseok-hyung is talking to him right now” Hyungwon sighed. “But he doesn’t speak Korean so I don’t know what’s going to happen”

Kihyun nodded, deep in thought, too busy to notice the look he was receiving from the other.

“If only we had someone who’s good in English...” the tall man nearly shouted to get his attention. The receptionist widened his eyes.

“What? Me?! What do __I__ have to do with this!?”

“Kihyun-ah, the man doesn’t remember anything and can’t communicate with anyone-”

“You speak English too! How could you determine his condition if not speaking in English!?” he interrupted, scandalized.

“I’m not as good as you and...” he trailed off, making the shorter guy even more angry.

“And what!?”

“You’re the only thing that he remembers” Hyungwon said, trying to contain his laughter.

Before either of them could talk, a third man joined them.

“Hey guys” Detective Hoseok placed a hand on their shoulders to call their attention. “I spoke to the guy, or at least tried to, thank god Mingyu here understands a little more English than me” he chuckled. “And, as you predicted, he doesn’t know nor remember anything about what happened” his expression turned grim and he sighed. “I’ll try to look for him in the database but I don’t think he’s from around here, so I’ll give the capital a call and try to start an investigation, see if there’s a missing person’s report somewhere though it’s still a bit early since you found him just a few hours ago” the man explained. “The main problem is what to do about him while we’re doing the investigation”

“The hospital can’t keep him here once he’s gotten his head injury healed” Hyungwon quickly said.

“Yeah, I know” Hoseok bit his lower lip. “And the station can’t hold him there and we don’t really have a place to let a person stay”

The two man turned to the one sitting down.

“No” Kihyun stated in panic.

“Come on, man” the tallest of the three insisted.

“I’m not a babysitter!” he yelled hysterically.

“No, but you’re the only person in town who teaches English and we can’t really send him to Seoul until we get a response from them” Hoseok argued calmly.

“I’m a receptionist, I don’t teach English”

“You used to!” Hyungwon exclaimed. “And you’re the only one with resources to help him right now. Plus, you’re the one who saved him, so you brought this on yourself”

Kihyun and Hyungwon really liked bugging each other; there were few times when they actually discussed, and when that happened the receptionist wanted to strangle him. Nevertheless, he knew he had a point and there was a man who actually needed his help.

“Fine” he huffed. “What do I have to do?” he glanced at the others.

“I’ll call you if there’s anything new, but for now you’ll just have to wait” Hoseok said.

“Okay...” the receptionist muttered to then look at the tallest. “Is there any kind of therapy for this condition? Anything that could help him remember?”

“No” Hyungwon shook his head. “People who experience this have pretty bad chances at remembering anything. Even if you tell them about their memories, they don’t identify with them, it just feels foreign. Usually, their families fill in the blanks and help them go back to their normal lives but in this case...”

“Great” Kihyun sighed.

He was finally given permission to go back to his apartment for a few hours to take a shower and sort things out after signing the correspondent documents. On his way home, he couldn’t set his thoughts straight. He wished to be selfish and careless not to feel guilty about leaving a man on his own, lost and confused, but he couldn’t.

 

The walk back to the hospital was the longest he had ever experienced. He kept going back and forth in every block and a few ladies from the stores nearby kept on asking him if he was okay. Kihyun wanted to laugh at that, pretty sure they knew exactly what was wrong but would act oblivious; it was a small town after all, and rumors spread fast.

Hyungwon had woken him up that morning, ordering him to get his ass there as soon as possible since __John Doe__  was ready to be discharged and asking about him. The doctor had probably explained the whole situation to the stranger and just some details were left for it to be official: Kihyun would be his caretaker until someone identified him.

Jooheon had initially voted against it, saying how he was a stranger and could even be faking his condition. But after a long talk where his brother pointed out how they would have the police’s entire support and the man wouldn’t even stay for long, he calmed down and saw it as a good thing. They were helping someone after all.

Just a few steps into the reception, he felt a hand on his arm and found Hyungwon looking down at him.

“There you are. Coffee?” the tall one said, showing him a cup which he rejected. “Come” he ordered and started walking without even checking if the other was behind him. “Did you bring what I asked you to?”

“Yeah, I have it here” Kihyun answered, raising a bag he had been carrying.

“The wound in his head is already healed and you’ll only have to bring him over to remove the stitches, Hoseok-hyung already took some pictures and his fingerprints and is currently sending them to all his contacts for identification, and I’ve prescribed him some painkillers in case his head hurts which would be completely normal. Also, I asked Minhyuk to see him once a day for starters” he explained while walking side by side, the other trying not to fall behind because of the difference in height.

“Minhyukkie? Why?”

Lee Minhyuk, the local psychologist who was also in Kihyun’s circle of friends was said to be great at his job. Still, Kihyun felt a little uneasy about the idea.

“Because it’s really necessary for him to have psychological help since he will feel lost and probably have a lot of mood swings. Walking around with no memory of your identity is very hard so it would be even better if you can stay with him as much as you can” Hyungwon said as if it was something stupid to ask, which made his friend press his lips into a thin line but hold back all his words.

Kihyun’s heart started to beat even faster when they reached the room where his destiny awaited. The receptionist had actually forgotten how the other looked like, the events from the night before feeling remote.

He nodded the moment his friend glanced at him, as if waiting for his approval, and entered after him.

The place was a plain hospital room, a private one that Kihyun had decided to pay for after seeing the emergency room facilities. However, he didn’t pay much attention to it because he was too concentrated in the person sitting down on the bed, chewing on some bad-quality bibimbap that made the newcomer lose his appetite. He was clean now, and wearing a hospital gown, his clothes probably in the hands of the police, who were searching for any proof of his identity. The stranger was a young man with double eyelids and a protuberant nose. He looked better when he wasn’t bleeding and drowning at the same time, that was the first thought that came to his mind when he saw him, and just as the other looked back he felt a rush of embarrassment accompanied with an unconscious flinch which made him go back to being his normal self.

“John, this- Kihyun. You staying with him- for now” the doctor spoke loud and clear in English, gaining everyone’s attention.

“John?” the caretaker frowned confused, turning back to his friend.

“John Doe, we didn’t really know how to call him” he explained, shrugging it off. The shorter one didn’t like it, he felt it wasn’t right to call him that way.

“Hi, Kihyun. Nice to meet you” the stranger seemed really uncomfortable, but still made an effort to look at the other in the eye and shake his hand, which Kihyun accepted while getting closer to him.

“Nice to meet you too, I.M” he smiled a little bit mischievously when the man raised his eyebrows surprised. “You told me that was your name at the beach” he said.

“Ah... I remember” the other chuckled, still uncomfortable.

“Is it okay if I call you that? I don’t really think John Doe fits you” Kihyun really hoped the other would feel a little bit more comfortable if he spoke casually to him.

“Yeah, I like it better” he smiled, just a little bit, but it made the receptionist’s day light up all of a sudden.

Honestly, on his way to the hospital and even before he had gone to sleep the night before, he had felt resentful towards the outsider, thinking how he was the reason his comfortable life had become a mess in a matter of minutes after meeting him. But, seeing how harmless and nice he was he felt a strong obligation to take care of him and get him back to where he belonged.

“I brought some clothes since they told me yours are at the police sta-”

“They are here” Hyungwon gave him a plastic bag which he did not want to open, the smell must’ve been terrible. “The police already inspected it and found nothing so they are all yours”

“Thanks, Hyungwon-ah” he spoke through gritted teeth, his friend’s presence just bugging him all of a sudden. “I hope they fit, though looking at you now, I should have brought some of __my__  clothes” he turned to I.M again, showing him the bag he had taken there.

“Whose clothes are these?” the man asked doubtful after checking out the clothing for a few seconds.

“My brother’s, Jooheon, he’s a little bit bigger than me” Kihyun answered.

“We- leave you alone. You can change. Come out when you are ready?” Doctor Chae ordered, guiding his childhood friend out the door, the other two throwing curious glances at each other. “That went well, he seems more comfortable with you” he said when they were out in the hallway.

“You think?” Kihyun asked nervously. “I feel really bad for him, he seems like a good guy” he trailed off, looking away.

“I spoke to Jihoon earlier and explained the situation” that caught the receptionist’s attention back. Lee Jihoon was his boss and he hadn’t even called him about missing work that day, he must have been pissed at him. “Don’t worry, he’s not angry” Hyungwon quickly added when he saw his expression. “And he said he would give you a few days off to sort things out, he will call you” that made the other sigh in relief.

“Thank you, Hyungwon-ah”

Their conversation was soon cut off by the twisting of the doorknob. I.M appeared in front of them, wearing jeans at least two sizes bigger and a huge hoodie, making Kihyun not able to hold back his amusement and laugh at his state.

“Don’t laugh!” the victim whined like a baby, stomping his foot on the ground and hugging his own body, really embarrassed.

“I’m sorry!” the receptionist exclaimed, truly meaning it. “It’s just...”

 _ _He looks really cute__ , he thought as his shoulder slightly twitched.

“Well then, gentlemen. Shall we?” Hyungwon interrupted.

The three men went to the front desk, where I.M nicely offered Kihyun to hold the bag while he took care of the bill and documents, and the doctor bid them goodbye.

Now they were on their own.


	2. Outsiders

Walking down the streets with the subject of every conversation in town wasn’t Kihyun’s favorite activity. Everyone kept turning their heads towards them and whispered among themselves, sometimes even pointing fingers at the stranger. I.M didn’t seem thrilled about it either. It was already too much having to grab onto his pants for them not to fall even with no one around. The receptionist felt a little bad about giving him Jooheon’s clothes but it couldn’t be helped now, so he just decided to take the bull by its horns.

“Hey, I.M, would you mind if we stop by to get some groceries?” he turned to the other, who looked at him with wide eyes, ready to disappear at any minute.

“W-what? Why?” he kinda whined again, looking like a little kid. At first, Kihyun had thought I.M was his age or older even, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. “I’m sorry” he said after realizing how he had sounded. “Let’s go, I’ll help you” he smiled softly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you a belt” the receptionist laughed with adoration, placing his hand on his shoulder to guide him.

They walked a few more blocks, reaching the local market, where the shushed talk increased remarkably. Any other day of the year, Kihyun would’ve ran away like I.M probably wanted to but it didn’t feel right this time. So, he straightened up his back and dragged the boy along with him, greeting every owner of the stalls they stopped at and introducing shamelessly the stranger just to see their startled faces.

In a town like that, no one would ever say things if not behind their backs; shoving I.M to their faces was as satisfying as ever. And after a few people, the outsider seemed to gain more and more confidence -specially when he got him a belt. He even asked him how to greet people in Korean and, though it was a little messy, the sound of his crooked attempt of the language was adorable.

The moment they got out of there, there was at least four bags on each of their hands because of visiting so many merchants and their breaths were ragged. I.M looked up at his caretaker and smiled, something that made the latter’s chest fill with joy.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?” the young man asked.

“Did what?” the receptionist acted obliviously, glancing to the other side.

“Thank you” he heard the foreigner say.

“Let’s go, we still have to make lunch” Kihyun told him after sighing nonchalantly.

 

I.M shifted uncomfortably on his seat, grabbing one of his arms tightly while biting the inside of his cheeks. They were back at the receptionist’s home and Jooheon wouldn’t take his piercing stare off of the intruder. Contrary to the promise to his brother, the teenager hadn’t been really nice to the stranger. As soon as the two had arrived, he had squeezed I.M’s hand too hard and barely spoken to him before retreating to his bedroom. Kihyun had rolled his eyes at that and just apologized to then show him the place and give him some clothes which would actually __fit__. The outsider had relaxed a bit after that, watching his savior cook and occasionally answering his questions and helping him in his task.

He liked Kihyun, he was different, he didn’t feel judged around him.

However, the problem returned when Jooheon sat on the couch facing him and burning his forehead with his eyes.

“Jooheon-ah, can you set up the table?” Kihyun called out and turned to the foreigner. “Here, try to use this” he ordered, handing him a couple of chopsticks after showing him how to handle them. Luckily, he seemed to know how to do it. The doctor had said his procedural memory hadn’t been lost so his previous abilities would still be there, and the man saw it as an opportunity to find out things about himself. “Great!” I.M was pulled out of his thoughts by the other’s voice, noticing the wide smile he was giving him. He felt his breath hitch all of a sudden, starting to cough as a reflex and feeling Kihyun’s hand patting his back. “Wow, are you okay?” the other asked worried when he calmed down. I.M simply nodded.

If he thought Jooheon’s stare couldn’t get darker, he was wrong.

Kihyun finished cooking and turned to place the hot stew in the middle of the kitchen island where they always ate -being only two people, buying a table seemed like a waste.

He decided to just ignore the way his younger brother looked at the outsider, he knew Jooheon would probably calm down after a while and, as long as he didn’t harass the other, he would just let him be.

“Thank you” I.M mumbled when he handed him his ration, waiting gently for the homeowners to start eating before digging in.

“I’m not a very good cook so I hope it’s not too bad” the receptionist said after a few minutes of silence where only Jooheon’s slurping was heard.

“It’s really good” the man shyly assured, making Kihyun smile again.

“Thanks”

A sudden noise interrupted the atmosphere, the youngest had placed his bowl hardly on the surface and was currently wiping the corners of his mouth.

“I’m going to Soonyoung’s” he grumbled, getting up from his place and starting to walk towards the door after grabbing his backpack.

“Yah! Have some manners, we haven’t even finished” his brother yelled in a severe tone, though it was ignored and answered with a door slam. “Aish...” he hissed, not even bothering to go behind him. “Sorry about that” he told the outsider after a few seconds, who was probably really confused because of the language barrier. “He’s usually nicer, he’s just...”

“It’s okay, I get it” I.M smiled bitterly. It was already pretty bad not knowing who he was and it felt as if people were blaming him for something unforgivable. “I wouldn’t be really welcoming if a stranger came to my house either, I guess”

Kihyun saw how the other lowered his head to keep on eating.

“I.M, can I ask you something?” he gently asked and took the silence as his queue. “How does it feel? I mean, not remembering anything”

The stranger lowered his spoon and stared at his dish before speaking.

“I don’t know” he chuckled a bit numbly. “I don’t remember what it was like to actually know and recognize things to even compare! I don’t know where I’m standing nor where I came from, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do. It just feels... empty” he trailed off with a shrug.

“It sounds awful”

“Yeah...”

I.M felt the other’s hand over his, making him look up.

“Even though you’ll get therapy, I want you to know you can trust me and rely on me” Kihyun said, staring right into his eyes. “At least while we try to find your identity”

“Thank you, Kihyun” he answered, squeezing his hand a little. “Really, for everything”

“No need to thank me” he smiled sweetly.

 

The hotel felt excruciating that morning.

It was the first time Kihyun was actually dreading being inside his workplace. He felt accused, as if saving a man’s life was a crime. However, he knew deep down this wasn’t the real reason of their attitudes. He wasn’t new at being in the town’s spotlight after all, and apparently his previous crimes still chased him.

His boss had called him the day before, asking him to meet him in his office at the beginning of his shift to talk about how they would handle his __situation__. He knew Jihoon, and had a really good relationship with him, so it wasn’t his support what concerned him. What did was the fact that he had to step aside from his routine and keep on taking everyone’s disapproval again. The day before he had been running on adrenaline and instinct so he hadn’t really minded, but now that things where falling into place he felt sick. He felt his peaceful life slipping through his fingers by just noticing the glances and the whispers.

Being in the public eye wasn’t his favorite activity, it only seemed to bring unwanted attention and control.

Still, he was a strong person, so he just threw his thoughts out of the window and pretended everything was okay.

“Kihyun-ah” a voice startled him. “Come in” his boss said with a small smile on his lips before retreating to his office and leaving the door open. The receptionist obeyed and shut it behind himself just as his superior started talking. “So, Hyungwon told me you have been named caretaker of the... new member of our community” Kihyun held himself, flinching at the tone his boss had used to refer to I.M.

“Yes, it turned out to be this way” he answered. “That’s the reason why I couldn’t attend my shift yesterday”

“I know, it’s okay” Jihoon calmed him down, noticing how stiff he was. “You’re my best employee, everyone knows that” he complimented, pacing around behind his desk. “So I’ll give you a week to settle things down and I won’t discount them from your paycheck” the man concluded, joining his hands and smiling at him again when his footsteps came to a halt.

“Thank you so much, hyung” Kihyun bowed deeply in gratitude. “I promise I’ll do my best when I get back”

“I don’t doubt it” his boss said, chuckling a bit. “You may leave now. You must have a lot of things to do”

“Thank you” he bowed again and started walking towards the exit.

“Oh, and Kihyun-ah” the other’s voice made him turn around briefly. “Be careful, I don’t want your reputation to be stained again”

The worker felt a pang in his chest, his smile faltering for a second before going back with full force.

“Don’t worry, hyung”

Kihyun didn’t register much of his way back home, his breathing heavy and eyes disoriented. He felt his world come crashing down in just two seconds.

No matter how much he tried to be the perfect citizen, it would never be enough to erase his past. He wanted to go back to the safety of the day before yesterday, to feel nothing was wrong, to feel like a normal person, someone who blended in. But it was impossible, it couldn’t be helped now.

When he entered his apartment, he didn’t even check if the outsider was still asleep, going to his bedroom in a fast pace and throwing himself on his bed. His chest felt tight and his face hot, he felt suffocated. His eyes closed shut while he gasped for air.

He thanked god Jooheon was at school, not wanting to explain his mood to his younger brother, he knew how overprotective the teenager could be and he didn’t want to experience it again.

Minutes went by and he ended up just lying there, like a corpse in the water, trying to forget his demons to no avail but slowly calming down, nevertheless. At one point his stomach started growling but he just ignored it, too mentally exhausted to even attempt to satisfy his hunger.

“Uhm, are you okay?” he heard a raspy voice from the door. Kihyun sat up quickly, finding a sleepy I.M leaning on the frame while rubbing his eyes. “I’m sorry I walked in on you like this, but I need to use the bathroom and Jooheon locked his bedroom door” the man shyly explained.

“It’s okay, you can use it” Kihyun smiled as big as he could and stood up. “I’ll make some breakfast and then we can go for a walk” nobody would’ve thought this was the same person who had been having a nervous breakdown two seconds ago.

“Okay” I.M nodded weakly and stumbled his way to the restroom, a new set of clothes in hand which the homeowner had given him to change into after showering.

Kihyun released a heavy sigh when he heard the water running. He couldn’t show the other he was distressed, he had to be a strong pillar for the stranger to rely on. So he set up to do his task, grabbing some leftovers to make bibimbap.

Just as he was placing the steaming dishes on the island, I.M appeared in front of his eyes, fully dressed and drying his hair with a towel which he neatly hung by the window, as the homeowner had previously ordered him to.

“Did you sleep well? Was the couch too uncomfortable?” he asked while sitting down on his spot.

“No, it was perfect” the other shook his hands in front of him, following his caretaker’s actions. “Even better without doctors and nurses running around” he chuckled, grabbing his spoon and starting to eat.

“Instead of that you had noisy Jooheon and Kihyun running around” the receptionist joked after swallowing.

“Didn’t even notice though” I.M smiled. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“No, I just had to talk to my boss earlier, but I already did, so we’ll focus on you” he explained before stuffing his mouth like a hamster.

“You don’t really have to, you can rest and I’ll just tag along since being crashed down by a wave resulted to be exhausting” Kihyun laughed at that, happy about the other’s attitude. He never expected he would feel so comfortable around a stranger, it was as if he had known him all his life.

“Nah, I want to go out, clear my mind a bit” the stranger’s face darkened upon hearing his words.

“Is it because of me?” he asked, biting the insides of his cheeks. “That you’re feeling stressed out?”

“What?” the question caught him off guard and he couldn’t help to yell a little. “No, it’s just... some stuff, nothing related to you” he smiled reassuringly.

“Wanna talk about it?” the other doubted before asking.

“Maybe some other time” Kihyun shrugged it off. “Now, eat, you’re too skinny”

“Yes, mom” I.M mocked him with a playful smile, obeying nevertheless.

The outsider found the town a little more pleasant on his second walk through it. His clothes were the right size and the stares could now be shrugged off with a nod or a bow. Their aimless steps were guided by the local while he spoke, pointing at different things and sights, and I.M was truly interested in his words, though maybe it didn't show because of how the other apologized from time to time for being boring. When they were nearing the beach, Kihyun quickly turned on his steps, trying not to be suspicious -it didn't work- and the pair decided to stop for lunch in a chicken place.

The receptionist sighed and leaned back on his seat after placing his order.

"Hope you don't mind to eat chicken next to the sea" he smiled a bit ashamed. "It's my favorite food and everyone criticizes me for it" I.M raised his eyebrows, wondering how could anyone judge by food tastes. " _ _How can you eat chicken when you are next to the sea!?__ " He seemingly imitated someone before snorting.

"I don't really know what I like, so everything is welcome" he patted his belly with a childish smile, Kihyun laughed at that. And I.M wanted him to stay that way.

That morning he had found out he felt a deep attachment to the man sitting in front of him. Maybe it was because of the fact that he had saved him, he had been the first person he saw when he woke up or just because he was the nicest human being he had met there, but seeing him in any kind of pain had triggered a deep concern inside his gut and the need to make him feel better. So he was happy their little trip downtown had eased the man somehow.

The food came pretty fast and soon they were wiping their mouths and stretching their arms in the air.

"It's still early for your session with Minhyukkie" Kihyun said after checking his phone. "What do you wanna do?" He asked, propping his elbows on the table.

"Uhm..." The foreigner hadn't really expected the question. "We could just... Keep on walking" he answered uncertain. "Is Minhyuk's studio far from here?"

"It's just a few blocks down, so I guess we could just walk there slowly" the other said and pondered on it. "Yeah, let's go" he determined and left money on the table. I.M watched the bills while biting his inner cheek guiltily. He felt like a huge baggage on the other's shoulders and he hated not being able to pay even for the meal, but he was distracted when Kihyun called him, urging him to follow him.

They resumed their journey. The streets were empty now, all the shop owners probably on their lunch break, making it feel cozier for the two not to have eyes watching their every move. Kihyun was still pointing at things when a sudden voice interrupted him.

"Kihyun-ah!" It was the local detective, Shin Hoseok. "Oh! Hello! You- feel good now" he smiled wider when he noticed the man next to his friend, gesturing with his hands to try to make the other understand his English better. "We are doing everything in our reach to find your identity" he assured in Korean, apparently not realizing the language switch.

"He doesn't speak Korean, hyung. Remember?" The caretaker rolled his eyes with a chuckle before translating to the foreigner. I.M smiled and bowed deeply to the detective before letting the two talk freely.

"So, how is he behaving? Do you need me to send any of my men to keep an eye on him?" Hoseok offered, trying to make it sound as casual as ever, but receiving a reaction he didn't expect.

"How can you suggest something like that, hyung!?" Kihyun growled. "He's not a criminal"

"I'm just asking!" The policeman shrugged with his eyebrows high. "We don't know who he is so we have to be careful"

"He's not a criminal" he repeated with clenched teeth, stealing a glance at the subject of their conversation, who was looking around. "I know he's not"

"Well, don't grow too attached Kihyunnie" Hoseok laughed while patting his head. "We don't want you to have any __problems__  again" he smiled down at the receptionist, who just stood there with a blank expression for the next few minutes, watching the officer walk away.

"Kihyun?" The outsider's deep voice took him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?" He seemed concerned. "Did he bother you or something?" The receptionist then realized his face must have reflected his thought, but decided to just play pretend.

"I'm okay! He was just telling me about Jooheon getting in trouble again"

He thanked, for the first time, the other was a stranger, because everyone knew his little brother wasn't the problematic one.

“Is he okay?” he frowned.

“Yeah, just skipping classes, apparently” Kihyun shrugged it off. “He just got detention”

"Oh, okay" I.M smiled relieved, and he felt kind of bad for lying, though it was just not worth it to tell him the truth.

"Shit, we're late for your session!" Kihyun panicked when he saw his watch and started dragging the other down the street.

 

"So, how was it?" was the first thing Kihyun muttered on their way back. Although he had immediately given him a huge smile when he got out of the building, the receptionist was awfully quiet.

"I don't know, it was pretty useless to me" I.M shyly confessed. He knew they had sent him to Minhyuk to help him, but he didn't think talking about his feelings after only one day would work. "I was worried it would be hard to communicate because of the language but Dr. Lee was good"

"Yeah... I don't really believe in psychology so I understand" there was a slight hint of resentment in his words but the outsider didn't dare to question the reason behind it. "And I taught English to Minhyukkie a few years back. Thank god it helped him in the end, he was the worst student ever!" He growled though it was mixed with laughter, making the other smile.

"You've really been here all your life, haven't you?" He asked, a grin still plastered on his face. He wondered how it felt to be familiar with everything around you, to have people to turn to. The foreigner even asked himself if anyone cared about him somewhere, whether that person was looking for him.

"Yeah, I have" Kihyun smiled with a sigh, but his eyes seemed sad for a second. "The only time I was away was when I did my military service"

"It must be nice, having all these people around you who know you and take care of you" he took the courage to say. He didn't feel anxious about the other's response; Kihyun felt like someone who he could tell everything to anyway.

"It has its pros and cons" the other chuckled. "I bought some popcorn while you were there" he lifted a bag he had been carrying, seemingly anxious to change the subject. "Do you wanna watch a movie in the meantime?"

"In the meantime for what?" I.M inquired confused.

"I always pick up Jooheon from his Taekwondo class, would you like to come with me? After the movie, of course"

"I don't think he would like to see me, though" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"He's mad at me, he’s not going to want to see me either" the receptionist smiled a little evilly. "But I'm his brother so he will have to just deal with it"

It didn't take long before they were inside the apartment, eating popcorn and yelling at the girl in the screen not to go inside the haunted house.

Kihyun discovered -to his great pleasure- the other wasn't a chicken like Jooheon and actually enjoyed horror movies. I.M was so easy to be around that Kihyun actually desired for him to stay permanently for a second.

The sun was already hiding behind the city when the two men started their journey to the local gym.

I.M was actually kind of excited about getting to see a Taekwondo class, even if that meant receiving deadly glares from a teenager.

Kihyun led the way for the third time that day, but didn't say much this time. It wasn't awkward, both of them were very sleepy to even feel that way.

The receptionist held the door for the other before they quietly sat on the side of the room. Jooheon was at the front of the class with his best friend Soonyoung, and as soon as he noticed their arrival, his movements became more rough.

"Don't worry, he wouldn't hurt a fly" Kihyun assured the outsider while laughing when he noticed the look on his face. His words didn't really calm I.M down, however, he got really distracted from his initial fear as the class kept going. Every kick and punch was so precise it made his insides flutter, he probably had hearts in his eyes.

Jooheon tried to ignore them on his way out, attempting to escape towards his best friend's house again, but was stopped by his brother's claws. Kihyun had grabbed the back of his hoodie, almost choking him with it, which gained him a lot of complaints.

"Stop whining and let's go home" the eldest said in a firm voice and invited the foreigner to follow him with a smile. His younger brother huffed and started following them after a few steps.

"Aren't we going through the beach?" Jooheon spilled when he saw they weren't taking the usual path.

"Not tonight, I'm tired" the receptionist answered, even if he knew his brother wouldn't believe him.

The teenager walked a bit faster to get to I.M's side, who wasn't really paying attention and muttered "It's all your fault" in English before going past him. The outsider didn't have time to react before the other was farther away, but felt a pang in his chest when he realized what had happened.

"Yah, Jooheon-ah!" Kihyun growled. "Don't listen to him, he's just a silly kid" he immediately said to the man beside him, but it was hard to believe him. When I.M was alone with him, he felt safe, relaxed, but he was scared once he found out who he was maybe he wouldn't feel that way with anyone. What if he wasn't welcome anywhere? What if Jooheon was just a sample of what was out there for him?

That night he had a hard time falling asleep. He understood now why it was necessary for him to see a psychologist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first two chapters! Thank you very much for reading <3  
> Any comment is welcome~  
> In case you want to chat:  
> twt @ykhick2226


	3. Fingerprint

A week went by and I.M was still in town.

Not that Kihyun minded, but he was growing more and more worried each day. For starters, he had to go back to work that day and he didn’t feel really keen on leaving the outsider on his own; the last couple of days seemed to have been hard on the guy by the way he looked after his sessions with Minhyuk. Besides that, he hadn’t met his boss ever since he gave him those few days off and that hadn’t gone so well for his mental health.

He felt weird all of a sudden. All those years where he had built up his fortress -a.k.a routine- were starting to crumble down on him. He didn’t feel comfortable in his hometown anymore, it didn’t feel like home. It was like he was going back in time to the days he-

“Kihyun” a hand on his shoulder dragged him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the foreigner with a creased brow. “Are you okay?” he asked worried, letting go of him.

“What?” the receptionist dumbly said before straightening up. “Yeah, why?” he smiled as brightly as he could.

He hadn’t realized he had stopped eating and was just glaring at his plate.

“You looked troubled” the other bit his inner cheek.

“It’s nothing” he hurriedly answered just as a door was being opened.

Jooheon entered the room and, as if it was a normal thing to do, took his things and muttered a quiet “Good morning” to then get out of the apartment quickly. Kihyun just sighed, knowing there was no point in making his brother stay and try to fight the guest. I.M, however, shifted uncomfortably on his seat to then suggest the possibility of him staying somewhere else.

“Don’t be stupid, he’s just stubborn” the homeowner shrugged it off with his hand. “Unless you really want to stay somewhere else because of some other reason”

“No, of course not!” the man was fast to exclaim, apologizing for the outburst after it.

“I’ll be back pretty late today” the local said concerned. “You can go for a walk or something. Maybe watch movies here, you can use my laptop” he suggested.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out” he smiled warmly, and it actually calmed the other down.

“Shit, I gotta go” Kihyun muttered when he saw the time on his phone, getting up. “Take care, okay? I’ll call here when I can to see if everything’s alright”

“Yes, mom” the outsider groaned. “Good luck”

“Thank you!” was faintly heard through the door the other had just shut.

The apartment had never felt so silent, it was the first time he was left alone while being wide awake, which made him a bit uneasy. He didn’t feel comfortable enough to touch anything without Kihyun’s supervision. However, if he was going to stay there for longer, it was meant to happen.

He pouted unconsciously before getting up and taking the dishes to the sink, staring at them for a few minutes. The homeowner always insisted on doing the dishes himself -he had actually tried to fight against him to help, but the receptionist was stronger than he expected- and he didn’t feel good about it. It didn’t look too hard to do either so he hesitantly grabbed the sponge and spilled some soap on it, opening the hot water faucet to start working.

In the end, it didn’t look as if he had done a bad job out of it, so he smiled proudly at his first successful chore.

Now, what could he do?

It was also the first time he didn’t have his daily session with Minhyuk and the other two wouldn’t come back home until 10 in the evening. It was almost 8 in the morning, he had a lot of free time in his hands.

He started walking aimlessly inside the apartment -slowly since it wasn’t a very big space- and watching everything intently. He didn’t dare to go into any of the bedrooms, it didn’t feel right to do it while the others weren’t around -something that made his little tour even shorter. However, it didn’t make it less interesting. In the past week, Kihyun had taken him out almost all day long so that he could get distracted, he hadn’t gotten the chance to pay attention to the little details in their home.

One thing that especially caught his eye was a wooden bookshelf in the corner, at his bed’s ~~-couch-~~  feet, which did not only contain books but also a few pictures. Now, even if he didn’t like to stick his nose in other people’s business, he was really curious. Looking at some photos wouldn’t hurt.

He felt a soft smile creep into the corners of his mouth when seeing the first one. It was one of Kihyun, apparently as a high-school student next to Dr. Chae and Dr. Lee, smiling brightly, carrying a terrible hairstyle and some thick, square glasses -I.M seriously hoped he still had those things somewhere around the house, the local looked adorable in them.

The second picture was an even older one. The two brothers were side by side, carrying bored expressions as if someone had pushed them into posing for it, and behind them there was a huge Christmas tree shining brightly. This made the outsider wonder how __he__  looked like when he was younger. His nose was probably smaller, he thought with a snicker.

He kept on admiring the frames until he reached the end of them, finding one that puzzled him. There were four people in it and he had never seen two of them. Kihyun had never mentioned any other relative besides his younger brother, so those two grown ups had to be their parents. Where could they be? His guardian was always taking care of Jooheon as if he were his mother and father at the same time.

The smile he had been carrying this whole time slowly faded away.

Kihyun was such a good person but nobody seemed to notice it. I.M wanted him to be happy, to see how much he was worth and to stop letting people step over him. Because, even though the other liked to pretend everything was fine, he could perceive that the people in that town weren’t so nice to him.

He sighed heavily and retreated himself from that corner, looking around. Maybe it would be good to sleep for a little while longer since it was so early.

He slept for about four more hours before his growling stomach woke him up. And after eating some leftovers, he set out to try to watch a movie in Kihyun’s laptop, like the latter had suggested doing.

I.M hesitantly opened the lid of the computer and found a post-it attached to it.

 _ _‘To turn on, press this’__  it read, followed by an arrow pointing to the left where a button was. The outsider laughed and obeyed before looking at the other note stuck on the device.

__‘Open last page of red notebook for further instructions’_ _

Needless to say, the young man couldn’t disobey the other’s orders, and he really needed something to entertain himself.

With the help of the homeowner’s indications, I.M was watching a thriller within minutes while happily munching on some cookies when the phone suddenly rang.

“Hello?” he shyly answered, afraid it would be someone who didn’t speak English.

“Hi, I.M! How is everything going?” Kihyun’s soft voice greeted him.

“Hey! Everything’s good, I was watching a movie. Thanks for your indications” he chuckled, remembering how organized the notes in that notebook were. “How about you? How’s work?”

“I’m glad they helped” he chirped. “It’s... good, as always” the tone in the other’s voice said the opposite, though. “I can’t talk much but I wanted to make sure you’re alright”

“I’m fine, you don’t have to worry so much” he laughed. “I promise I won’t try to cook or anything, so everything should be okay”

“Thank god, how would I feed you and Jooheonnie with a burnt-down kitchen?” I.M was glad he sounded amused, as if he had lifted some of the weight on his shoulders. “Anyway, the number I’m calling from is in the notebook so call me if something comes up, I gotta go”

“I will, thank you, Kihyun”

After hanging up, the stranger stood for some seconds staring at the phone. What was that warm sensation on his chest he always felt when talking to the other? It probably had to do with the fact that he was the man who had saved him. Yep, that was it. He shouldn’t have been thinking about those things, there was nothing more to it.

I.M shook his head and returned to the chair on which he had been sitting and pressed play.

His plans of relaxing, however, were interrupted when a loud knock on the door was heard throughout the apartment a few minutes later.

A man shouted something. However, he couldn’t understand a word, so he nervously and carefully approached the door and peeked through the peephole.

Detective Shin Hoseok and two other men were banging on the entrance repeatedly. He thought he heard Kihyun’s name being called, but he wasn’t sure. He unlocked and opened the door with trembling hands, not liking the way the visitors were behaving.

As soon as he was on the other’s sight, they didn’t even let him greet them in his poorly rehearsed Korean before they slammed his body against the nearest wall and forcefully grabbed his wrists, yelling at him while showing him his hands, as if he could understand what they meant by it.

“Wh-what’s happening?” he stuttered, afraid. “Wait, there must be some kind of misunderstanding!” he exclaimed in panic, staring at the ground while the others barked at his face. The men were being really harsh on him and he didn’t know if he was going to be able to defend himself. He wished Kihyun to be by his side, protecting him as always.

But he wasn’t, and his fear grew even more when the others turned him around and cuffed him as if he was a dangerous animal, pushing him out the door.

 

“Where is he?” Kihyun asked Mingyu breathlessly the moment he arrived to the station.

Everything had started rather well that morning. Although his boss and coworkers had welcomed him with a cold and weird atmosphere, there hadn’t been much to do since it wasn’t a season where many people visited the town, letting him relax on his first day after a week without attending tourists. Also, I.M had sounded so happy and laid-back on their short conversation on the phone that he would’ve never imagined that half an hour later he would receive a call from Hoseok. The detective had sounded angry, almost to the point of an unmanageable rage, while yelling at him how his __guest__  was a spy.

The receptionist would’ve laughed and taken it as a joke if it hadn’t been for how serious he had sounded. So, he had to excuse himself from work and run to the police station as fast as he could.

“Follow me” the officer said coldly, something unusual from the tall man.

They entered a dark room where at least five cops where staring at a window showing the interrogation room. Through the glass, Kihyun could see the outsider curled into himself like a wounded and defenseless animal while detective Shin Hoseok slammed his hands against the table and shouted crazily at him.

“Wh- what are you doing?” mumbled the newly arrived. “Why are you treating him like that?!” he exclaimed after slightly recovering from the shock.

He tried to enter the room, but was stopped by Mingyu’s hand on his wrist.

“You can’t interfere with police investigations, Kihyun-ssi” he sternly said.

“Would you at least tell me what’s happening?” the caretaker asked with pleading eyes.

The officer let go of his arm gently and began speaking as calmly as he could.

“We spent the last few days running this man’s fingerprints on our database to see if we could find his identity, but we could not find him”

“And that gives you the right to drag him down to the station and treat him like this!?” it was now the receptionist’s turn to get angry. This was ridiculous. He knew Hoseok didn’t trust I.M from the beginning, but he never thought a professional like him would do something like that.

“We noticed” Mingyu spoke up, raising his palm in the shorter one’s direction, as if to shut him up, “that his fingerprints were odd, so we immediately thought that maybe we hadn’t taken them properly. However, a specialist from our team told us that those fingerprints had been hurt as to erase them completely” his voice was stable, with a hint of disdain. “And this lead us to believe that he is actually a spy from the north”

“What?” Kihyun couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief when thinking about the outsider as a spy. “You can’t be serious”

“Why wouldn’t he be a spy?” the taller one raised an eyebrow. “He arrived at this town in doubtful circumstances, claiming that he does not remember anything about himself and was inserted in our town easily while distracting everyone with his so-called ‘condition’” he stated matter-of-factly. “And you, defending him right now, are a suspected accomplice”

“Me?!” the other raised his voice.

“With your record of __disorders__  we cannot ignore the possibility of you helping him” Kihyun tried not to flinch at that. “Besides, you saved him and accepted quite easily to be his guardian, why was that?”

“First of all, your partner and Doctor Chae Hyungwon were the ones who pushed me into being his caretaker, your accusation makes no sense” he pointed his finger at the man. “Second, I saved him because that’s what anyone with a little bit of common sense would do in that situation” his voice had started trembling with anger by the time he emitted the last words. “And third, you won’t drag my past into this mess that you have brought on yourselves because you can’t tell proper fingerprints apart from scarred ones!”

Mingyu was about to respond, probably violently, but the door of the interrogation room swung open, letting Hoseok in.

“Ah, you’re here” he grunted.

“I want to talk to him” Kihyun immediately demanded.

“Hah, let you speak to your possible partner in crime? Hell, no” the older man walked up to him. “First, I want to have a little chat with you”

“I just want to see if he’s okay, he looks terrified” the receptionist raised his hands in peace. “And I’m his caretaker, which gives me the authority of a parent in charge of him, so let me speak to him”

Kihyun wished he had taken out that sudden courage out of himself on some other occasions, too. Hoseok seemed as surprised as he was of his sudden attitude before he nodded defeated.

“You two can talk on the hallway” he said, signaling his men to get the outsider out of that room. “But one sudden move or attempt to escape and you’re dead”

It would’ve hurt some other time to be treated that way by someone he considered a close friend of his, but the receptionist was too focused on I.M to care.

He waited in the hallway for the other to be released, pacing around and biting his lip nervously. What if the detectives were right? He had grown quite attached to I.M without even realizing, he didn’t know what he would do if he was actually a North Korean spy. On the other hand, it was impossible, it just couldn’t be.

The click of the door resounded on the walls and, the moment it was wide open, he was met with a disheveled-looking young man who didn’t even wait to fall into his arms, clinging onto him for dear life.

Kihyun wasn’t used to human contact, so it actually took him by surprise the need he felt to hold him back. He had expected to flinch like he always did when another man touched him, but he didn’t. He just caressed the other’s back until he calmed down and managed to sit down on the bench conveniently placed on the hallway.

“My-my hands, they- I don’t know who I am, I swear, I would never- it doesn’t make sense but what if it’s true-” the outsider rambled, pulling at his own hair before lowering his hands and staring at his fingers.

“Shh, calm down, I.M” he cooed, placing his hand on the other’s shoulder. “I’m here, we’re going to figure something out” he crouched in front of him, staring up at his face.

“I couldn’t understand what was going on...” I.M muttered. “And when we got here, Detective Hoseok’s partner told me in his elemental English that my fingerprints were altered and that I was a spy” he explained. “But I can’t be... Well, if I was, I wouldn’t be so stupid to call everyone’s attention by drowning on my first day here, right?” he chuckled hopelessly. “But I don’t have a way of proving it...”

“Can I see?” Kihyun quietly asked, pointing at the outsider’s palms and taking a silent nod as an affirmative.

He grabbed them carefully, focusing mainly on his fingerprints and noticing some patches of skin without any patterns, as if they had been burnt or cut off.

“Do you...” the deep voice of the man in front of him made him look up. “Do you believe me?” I.M’s eyes looked worried and frightened.

In the short time he had had for himself, he had actually wondered about it. Whether he should believe the stranger or trust the police, and the immediate answer that had popped into his head had surprised him.

“I do” he plainly said.

“Why?”

The caretaker sighed, thinking about it for a few moments.

“Because I just do” he smiled. “You don’t seem like a liar to me, even less a bad person” he stated. “You’ve just been unfairly accused”

Suddenly, the eyes staring back at him became moist and clouded while a weak grin decorated the other’s features.

“Thank you” he whispered with a hiccup.

Kihyun hugged him again, resting his chin on top of the stranger’s head, before a voice interrupted the silence.

“You done?” Detective Hoseok asked aggressively.

“Yes, actually, I think I’ve just managed to solve this problem” the hotel receptionist spoke with determination after letting go of the other.

“Yeah? How so?”

“You have one of those machines to detect lies, right? Why don’t you use it on him?” he proposed calmly.

“Great, we’ll do that!” he clapped his hands. “But if one thing he says, even the smallest and most insignificant thing, is a lie, then we’re sending him to Seoul and National Security can handle him”

“Deal” he smiled.

“You will be there to translate, but we will have Minhyuk listening to you too in case you decide to lie for him, alright?”

“Yeah”

Two hours later, everything was set up for the session with the lie-detector. The officers had called the specialist to install and put the machine to work while Kihyun had explained the procedure to I.M and pleaded for him not to get nervous since it would only affect the test result. Minhyuk had also arrived after a session with one of his patients; everyone supposed to be there was there.

“Okay, I.M-ssi we’re just going to ask a few questions and you answer them. Preferably with the truth since I will know if you lie” the cop in charge of running the machine explained and the receptionist translated to the other as they had accorded to do. “We’ll start off with some basic questions to make sure the device works properly, alright?”

“Okay” muttered the outsider when everything was translated to him.

“Who is the man in front of you?”

“Detective Shin Hoseok” the machine showed it was true.

“Who is your caretaker?”

“Yoo Kihyun” Again, the device behaved normally.

“What color is your hair?”

“Brown” True again.

“Now I want you to deliberately lie. Don’t worry, it’s just to test the machine, not to imply you’re a liar” the man straightened up his back a little bit while thinking about his next question. “Do you get along with your caretaker?”

“No” now, the device started drawing some long and uncontrollable lines on the paper, signaling it was a lie. Kihyun felt a smile creeping onto his lips after translating his answer.

“Who is the person you like the most in this room?”

“Detective Shin Hoseok” it was a lie again, making some of them laugh under their breaths by seeing how it bothered the man who was mentioned.

“Okay, I think it’s working” the man sighed, clearly bored out of his wits with such procedure. “Now, what’s your real name?”

Kihyun held his breath, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He didn’t know what he would do if everything turned out to be a lie.

“I can’t remember”

Everyone’s eyes stared right into the paper that came out of the machine. The man in charge checked it.

“It’s true”

The receptionist sighed in relief, his soul going back into his body.

He could hear the officers cursing under their breaths, but he couldn’t care less. I.M was innocent, he was right all along.

The interview lasted for about fifteen minutes until there wasn’t anything else to ask about. None of the answers the stranger had provided had turned out to be false, so the police had no choice but to let him go. I.M joined his caretaker inside the reception and hugged him even tighter than he had a few hours before.

“Thank you, thank you so much, Kihyun” he whispered against his neck, making him flinch unintentionally.

“Hey, stop touch him that way, disgusting” Mingyu called out on him and he obeyed, mainly because he didn’t want any more trouble.

As the two of them walked towards the apartment, Kihyun couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to find the other’s true identity now that not even his fingerprints were of any use.

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he hoped they never did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!   
> I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, if you have any suggestions or opinions, comments are always welcome ^^  
> I will be a little busy but I will try to write the next chapter as fast as possible, hope you can understand  
> Again, if you want to chat, my twitter is @ykhick2226  
> Thank you for reading <3


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